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Handedness poll


When Did Your Children Generally Develop Handedness  

  1. 1. When Did Your Children Generally Develop Handedness

    • 1 year of age
      34
    • 2 years of age
      31
    • 3 Years of age
      18
    • 4 years old or older
      16


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My leftie is not a strong leftie--she eats and writes left-handed but does all sports (throwing, catching, kicking, cartwheels) as a rightie would and uses scissors with her right hand. If I ever get around to teaching her to knit or crochet she will do it right handed.

 

It took a long time to figure out that she was left-handed. All through two years of preschool she would color with either hand, switching hands when one got tired. Finally when it came time to learn to write letters, she clearly favored the left hand (so probably about 5 years old). She is also left-eyed. I learned about this from my sister who probably should have been left-handed but got switched by teachers to her right. She is right handed with horrible handwriting, but left-eyed, or cross-dominant. To test, put a hole in a piece of paper and site something through it. Pull the paper closer to your face, always keeping your target in view. Whichever eye the hole goes to is your dominant eye.

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DD didn't show a preference until she was 5 and I made her choose. She was really struggling trying to do both so I asked her to work on one for a while and then if she wanted to try the other way she could. She now does almost everything as a lefty except cartwheels.

 

My ODS has always been right handed. My YDS seemed to favor his left hand until he was about 6 and then switched. He still will use both at times, but most of the time will use his right hand.

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I voted 1, but it was probably even earlier. My DH noticed it with our oldest right away that he was left-handed, bc I remember him commenting that it will be hard to find a lot of left-handed tools. My DH is very handy, so wants to teach our boys as well. My middle one is definitely right-handed, although he tries to color, etc with his left hand bc he tries to copy his older brother. The baby is 14 mo and I think he will be right handed, we'll see.

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All of mine, save one, showed a strong preference at a young age. Only my oldest daughter didn't show a preference until she was in the 2nd or 3rd grade. Even now, she can write and draw very nicely with her right hand...but she uses her left for writing (she eats with her right).

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I voted 4 or older based on my younger son. He never showed a preference until he was 4 and started learning to write his name. He tended to use his right hand for that. He still writes with his right hand, but will use his left to color, eat, throw balls, etc.

 

Older son was probably around 2-3 when I realized he was right handed for sure. He never liked to do fine motor activities, so it was kind of hard to tell.

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I couldn't vote since my boys have been all over the map. My 8yo righty was easy to tell the moment he was born. I wasn't sure with my 6yo lefty and my 4yo righty until I sent them to preschool at 4yo. They are both ambidextrous and opposite footed. I didn't want to push my preferences (dh and I are both lefties and proud :D) so I asked their preschool teacher once they were established. She just confirmed ds4's right-handedness. I'm 90% sure my 1yo is a lefty, but wouldn't be surprised if he switches at some point. He's definitely right-footed, though.

Edited by Dinsfamily
Clarifying ages
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DD strongly preffered her left at an early age. Then she broke her left arm at 18 months and spent almost 2 months in a cast and got used to her right. Ever since then we can't really tell. For a while I was thinking she had settled on right so I encouraged her to use her right on the rare occasion she used left. But lately it seems she starts left at least as often as she starts right. :/ Not sure what I should encourage anymore. If anything.

 

Does that eye test tell what hand you *should* be using? Is cross dominate common and fine, or does it usually mean the person was influenced away from their naturally dominate hand?

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With my oldest, by two we knew he was a righty.

 

With my 7 year old? I'm 98 percent sure he is a righty when writing, although he sometimes switches to his left when drawing (but not when writing letters/numbers). He also plays sports with his left hand, and holds silverware with either hand. He went back and forth with which hand dominated until he was about five, now he is pretty ingrained with which hand he uses for which task. He's either selectively ambidextrous or a non-dominant righty (which I've never heard of :D ).

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I'm thinking that I am seeing left handed tendencies in Olivia - 16 months. However, it could be wishful thinking. :glare: I am a lefty, my mom is a lefty, my mother in law is a lefty, and out of nine children, I've not yet produced a lefty. So, while I *suspect* she uses her left more than her right, I also suspect I really want it to be so. :P ;)

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DS13 used his left hand for EVERYTHING when he was really little. Then, one day at about 2.5ish my grandfather came up and told him, "you don't want to be left-handed. use your RIGHT hand... like this." And DS has used his right hand ever since. :glare:

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My girls all Prefered their right side from the start. There was never any doubt that they would be right handed. Ds used both interchangably until i made him pick a writing hand in Kindergarten. (I had heard that they need to pick one so thta they cross the midline. Not sure if this was the right decision) he still does many things with either or the left.

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As far back as I can remember (I took custody of my kids at 12mos and 9mos), my kids have had dominant hands. I don't recall ever seeing any ambiguity in this regard.

 

Which is funny, since my kids still reverse some letters/numbers in 1st grade.

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All three of mine have been ambidextrous, or slightly left favoring until between 3 and 4 (I voted 3 in the poll, because it is generally sometime during that year when they begin favoring). All three are now righties.

 

This was my youngest. For the most part, eating was done with her left hand. All the others favored their right hands from the beginning.

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My right handed daughter showed preference early on, by two at least. My two left handed boys went back and forth til about 5, then decided on left hands. My youngest, ds6, still swaps back and forth and can write just as well with either hand. I'm not forcing him to choose as long as it is legible.

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My right handed middle son sucked his right thumb. My left handed youngest sucks his left thumb. Youngest is still ambidextrous in most things, including writing, but his left hand is clearly more dominant.

 

My right handed kids always did right hand for everything, though I know my DH was ambidextrous and then went right handed. I'm 99% sure my youngest will go left in the end. And I think I realized he was a lefty when he was 2.

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I voted 3, but I think it was truly obvious between 3 and 4. Maybe it was sooner, but I was still hoping he'd be left-handed so I might not have seen the truth. :001_smile:

 

FWIW, my mother always said she used to hand me my spoon in the center, and I always grabbed it with my left. So, from at least the time I could feed myself I was obviously left-handed. I'm very strongly left-handed. Maybe that makes a difference in how early it shows.

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